His Best Days
by FiniteIncanFandom
Summary: We know how they came to be friends, and how it all ended so fast. But what about the few precious days that Severus didn't share with Harry in the pensieve? This tale is sandwiched between the memories shared in Deathly Hallows and the view that Harry stole in Order of the Phoenix, and including altered extracts from the writings of J.K Rowling from Severus Snape's point of view.
1. The First Day

It was a typically bright summer's day in Cokeworth with only a single, huge, chimney dominating the distant skyline.  
In an uncharacteristically deserted playground two girls were playing on the swings, and he was watching them. His black hair was overlong and his clothes were so mismatched that it looked deliberate: too short jeans, a shabby, overlarge coat that might have belonged to a grown man, an odd smocklike shirt. Severus Snape was nine and a half years old, and sat behind a clump of bushes. He was sallow, small, and stringy. There was undisguised greed in his thin face as he watched the younger of the two girls swinging higher and higher than her sister. He found her pendulum-like movement almost hypnotic, not unlike most things she did.

"Lily, don't do it!" shrieked the elder of the two.

But the girl had let go of the swing at the very height of its arc and ﬂown into the air, quite literally ﬂown. She launched herself skyward with a great shout of laughter, and instead of crumpling on the playground asphalt, she soared like a trapeze artist through the air, staying up far too long, landing far too lightly. Her crimson hair, glowing in the sunlight, floated around her form in the air and fell daintily around her shoulders as she landed, as if she was suspended under water.

"Mummy told you not to!" shrieked her sister fearfully.

Petunia stopped her swing by dragging the heels of her sandals on the ground, making a crunching, grinding sound, then leapt up, hands on hips. She looked so pompous, she always had an air of being better than everyone and everything around her, but she was nothing compared to her sister. Lily Evans.

"Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!" Petunia repeated, but Lily maintained the same pensive look.

"But I'm ﬁne," said Lily, still giggling. "Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do." She said as though to reassure her sister.

Petunia glanced around apprehensively. The playground was deserted apart from themselves and, though the girls did not know it, Severus. He continued to watch them with an eager smile spreading across his face in anticipation. He loved to watch her do magic, she was already so talented for a young witch and she didn't even know what she was, never mind what she was capable of. He could change that for her.  
Lily approached the bush behind which Severus lurked and picked up a fallen ﬂower from the ground.  
He held his breath, and froze, desperate not to be discovered. Not yet. He'd been watching her for a while now, waiting for the right moment to appear and this wasn't it. Their eyes met through the leaves, and his heart leapt, but she looked right through him. In the midst of his relief he felt a slight disappointment. Everyone looked right through him. She turned away from the bush and Severus began to breathe again, exhaling slowly and carefully.Petunia advanced on Lily, evidently torn between curiosity and disapproval, and Severus shifted backwards further out of view. Lily waited until her sister was near enough to have a clear view, and then held out her palm. The ﬂower sat there, opening and closing its petals, like some bizarre, many-lipped oyster.

"Stop it!" shrieked Petunia.

"It's not hurting you," said Lily, evidently disappointed that her sister was not as impressed as she had thought she would be. She closed her hand on the blossom and threw it back to the ground in annoyance.

"It's not right," said Petunia with an air of accusation in her voice, but her eyes had followed the ﬂower's ﬂight to the ground and lingered upon it. "How do you do it?" she added, and there was deﬁnite longing in her voice.

This was the moment.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Severus could no longer contain himself, and jumped out from behind the bushes, a little too enthusiastically he thought in hindsight.

Petunia shrieked and ran backward toward the swings, but Lily, though clearly startled, remained where she was. Severus instantly began to regret his appearance, and a dull ﬂush of colour mounted his sallow cheeks as he looked at Lily. His mind went almost blank but her radiating confidence and intrigue invited him to continue.

"What's obvious?" asked Lily, almost smiling.

Severus had an air of nervous excitement. Her half-smile had cut through his nerves. He had waited for this very second for so long – 'don't mess this up' sneered the voice in his head. With a glance at the distant Petunia, now hovering beside the swings. He smiled his greedy smile, lowered his voice and said,

"I know what you are."

"What do you mean?"

"You're...you're a witch," whispered Severus his smile expanding and as the world rolled off his tongue.

He felt weeks of planning pass over his lips, and a massive weight lift off his shoulders. This was where she would smile back, and ask _"Really?"_ with an unmistakable glimmer of excitement in her liquid emerald eyes as she realised her life of mundane normality was over. He would of course reassure her, and share that he also had powers beyond those of mere muggles. He'd not factored Petunia into this conversation, as he assumed she would be silenced by her jealousy, leaving him and Lily to talk, laugh and be happy. Finally he would have a friend who could understand him, and she a friend who already understood her more than anyone else she knew.  
But to his dismay she looked affronted.

"That's not a very nice thing to say to somebody!"

She informed him as she turned, nose in the air, and marched off toward her sister.

"No!" said Severus, more to himself than to Lily.

He was highly coloured now,he hadn't seen this coming. He ﬂapped after the girls, looking ludicrously bat-like. The sisters considered him, united in disapproval, both holding on to one of the swing poles, as though it was the safe place in tag.  
He was used to being looked down on, but not like this.

"You are," said Severus, a little more nervously, and desperately. "You are a witch. I've been watching you for a while. But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one, and I'm a wizard." Lily's expression lightened, just enough for Severus to know that he'd been heard.

It was all starting to fall back into place. His panic began to lift until Petunia's laugh hit him, like cold wateron his flushed face, washing away his glimmer of hope.

"Wizard!" she shrieked, her courage seemed to have returned now that she had finally recovered from the shock of his unexpected appearance. "I know who you are. You're that Snape boy! They live down Spinner's End by the river," she told Lily, Severus could feel the raw judgement in her tone.

"Why have you been spying on us?"

"Haven't been spying," mumbled Severus, hot and uncomfortable,suddenly aware of his dirty hair in the bright sunlight.

Spying. What an ugly word... He had merely been observing her, waiting until she began to question her abilities, her normality. As every muggleborn eventually would. Petunia was clearly just jealous of Lily. Lily had extraordinary talents, even for a witch, whereas she was just.. Just EXTRA-ordinary.

"Wouldn't spy on _you_, anyway," he added spitefully, "you're a Muggle."

The look on Petunias face lifted Severus's sunken spirits; evidently shedid not understand the word, but she could not mistake the tone as he reflected the judgement in her own.

"Lily, come on, we're leaving!" she said shrilly.

Lily obeyed her sister at once, glaring at Severus as she left. Though she looked him up and down, as if still trying to read him. He stood watching them as they marched through the playground gate.In that instance, as the gate slammed shut behind them, his cheeks were no longer flushed. In fact his whole body fell rather cold. Severus recognised this feeling, intense and bitter disappointment. He had been planning this moment for so long, and this was not how it was supposed to happen. How had it all gone so wrong?...  
Unlike them he stayed, standing, swaying on the same swing on which moments ago she had sat. He was a fool to think that she would want to befriend him – that she would even believe him. He didn't need anyone anyway, he was just fine alone. An unusually icy summer's breeze heaved through the park, unusually fast. Maybe.. Maybe he should be heading home, it would be dark soon and he didn't want to be locked out for the night again, as comforting as the isolation the night had to offer was. He launched himself skyward with great ease and soared like a trapeze artist through the air, staying up far too long, landing far too lightly. It was a short walk home that night, and the house was silent and still when he arrived.


	2. The Next Day

"OH SHUT UP TOBIAS!" A cold female voice voice rang through the house as if it was enchanted.

"I didn't say anything!" Severus' father replied, he too was shouting.

"No, you're just sat there, mumbling." Eileen sniped sarcastically, "I'm so fed up of you muttering under your breath. If you have something to say then why don't you just say it?" She hissed as a shopping list flew from cupboard to cupboard while a quill took note of the missing items.

"I'm not-"

"I'm going out, I'll be back later. Take care of my son while I'm out." She interrupted as if he hadn't been speaking. Her tone was demanding, but not cruel, and the lack of resistance from Tobias highlighted that this was merely part of an ongoing argument. Severus tried to stay out of it, but it wasn't that easy.

Every morning while he ate his breakfast his mother would tell him how narrow-minded his father was, how he used to be more fun when they first met and of course she would share tales of the selfish and spiteful things he had done in the days before. Then every evening his father would come home from work just after his mother had left for what she told him was a knitting circle (she instead met with the local witches and no doubt spat more venom about her husband) and proceed to rant on about how much simpler life was before he met her, how she was incapable of doing anything without using her magic and how she never did anything useful.  
Downstairs the door slammed into the wall as Eileen swung it open.  
"After all I do everything else." She mumbled barely audibly as she swept her dark hair from her thin face and stormed out of the door.

There was a haunting silence in the house after she left. At first Severus just lay there in bed, but he soon realised he couldn't stay there all day. He cleaned his room, got dressed and went downstairs to find his father on his knees in the kitchen practically growling to himself. He pulled his head out from the depths of a kitchen cupboard, looked up and tried to smile convincingly as Severus walked in. Tobias looked like an older, greyer version of his son, with the same hooked nose, sunken cheeks and greasy dark hair. He was fairly well-presented, unlike Severus, with roughly ironed and coordinated clothes. Though the creases in his trouser legs were just off centre, which combined with his tall, thin figure made him look a little crooked.

"Morning, your mum's-" his father started as Severus entered the kitchen.

"Yeah I know."

"Alright then, best get some food." He sighed and continued to rummage through the kitchen cupboards and drawers.

Severus wandered into the living room. The walls of their house were an unpleasant shade of eggshell blue that had faded to almost grey over the years and clashed horribly with their tattered beige sofa and chairs which had very obvious patches sewn on in various shades of brown. There were clothes, dirty and clean, strewn all over the furniture and floor where no-one had bothered to put them away. Used plates and mugs littered every flat surface and the ripped, discoloured curtains were drawn to shut out the rest of the world. This may have been their house, but it was no home. Most of the house could be easily cleaned with a little magic, even Severus knew that, but his father would have none of it.

"Damnit Eileen!" Roared his father's voice from the kitchen.

Severus collapsed on the sofa next to a torn pillow and lay his head on the back of the seat putting his head at almost 90 degrees and screwing up his eyes until he could see little stars dancing in the darkness.

"Where does that damned woman put everything?" his father growled.

Severus sighed heavily as the banging and crashing from the kitchen grew louder and his father began swearing loudly. Severus rose to his feet, slowly and effortlessly and strode past the kitchen and out of the back door.

"I'm not hungry father. I'm going to the park." He called as he left.

His parents had been arguing a lot more recently. Not just about magic anymore either, although it had been steadily getting worse as Severus got older and more capable to control his talents. The reality of Severus' inevitable future was slowly dawning on his father, he could no longer ignore the fact that his son was a wizard. Severus believed that their main issue was communication – or lack of it. He just kept his head down, and spent most days out at the park from the moment he was dressed until it was time to head back for dinner. He couldn't bear listening to each of his parents arguments.

He spent each day simply sitting, waiting behind that same flower bush. Though what he was waiting for he wasn't quite sure, Lily had made her intentions painfully clear. Due to this inarguable fact, and his dulled sense of rationalism, Severus had decided that he was not waiting.

He was merely escaping.

It was peaceful, and most days he would simply toy with the fallen flowers behind the bush. Perching them delicately in the palm of his hand he would cause them to open and close repeatedly, just as she had done. It was truly astonishing to him how such a commonplace piece of magic had entertained her. Of course _he_ could do it with ease, on particularly slow days he would cause a multitude of these flowers to whorl around above his collapsed form.

Open and close.  
Open and close.

He knew he could show her so much more, more wonders than he was sure she could ever imagine.

The days were getting hotter, and he found sanctuary in the shade of the bush that he had claimed as his own, without notice or dispute from the rest of the world.  
One particularly hot day, as he lay within the cover of his now homely bush watching a single, bright flower rotate slowly he began thinking; maybe she would come back, maybe she would realise the error of her ways. She had acted very irrationally after all.. He had only tried to help her understand herself, to let her know that she wasn't some freak of nature.

She wasn't alone, he wasn't alone.

Her and her sister had made a fool of him, acted as though he had insulted them – well he had insulted that unbearable Petunia girl. He felt no regret of that, but Lily should have been pleased! Instead she had been utterly ungrateful, disrespectful and downright rude to him. Of course he would tell her all of this when he saw her again – if he saw her again. He closed his eyes and let the gentle summer's breeze envelop him, he was just beginning to drop odd when a shrill voice slashed through the warm summer's air.

"Lily! LILY! Wait for me!"

Before he knew it Severus was up on his knees, with his pale face brushing the leaves and his dark eyes desperately searching the landscape for that familiar glimmer of red. It was only at that very moment, as his eyes began to focus, that he realised just how busy the park had gotten today. It was as though the world had been un-muted. The delighted screams and laughter of children filled the air while what felt like hundreds of figures danced around the playground.

"C'mon Tuney! Keep up!" giggled a familiar, sweet and satisfying voice.

There was no chance that he could spot her in this crowd, even with her distinctive dark red hair. He couldn't even tell what direction her voice was coming from through all this commotion. Once he had resigned to this fact Severus slumped, sulkily sitting with his back against the bush, fiercely trying to once again drown out the sound of the commotion behind him.

Maybe he should just go home. What was he even doing here? He could hardly confront her today at any rate, not with all of these people around. It had been bad enough when it was just her sister who was there. He didn't think he could handle the ridicule of all of those children. He looked solemnly down at his once again mismatched clothes, he couldn't even bare to be seen by them like this, never mind speak his thoughts to Lily – not in front of all those _muggles_.

Why had he ever thought that she would be any different, anymore understanding than any one of them? She practically was one of _them_ after all. She'd find out soon enough, when her letter came, then she'd be sorry. Sorry for how unreasonably she had acted, sorry for how she had treated him. How she looked at him.  
When she came to him wanting answers, needing him, maybe just maybe he wouldn't be there. Maybe he'd just look at her like she was crazy, and walk away with his head held high. Maybe-

"Hey" came a hushed whisper.

Was that? No- he looked around, he was totally alone. As usual. He laughed at his own foolishness. Merlin's beard he hoped he wasn't going to start hearing voices. He can't be crazy. No he isn't crazy. It must have just been th-

"Hey! I know you're there." That time he was sure he had heard it, sweet and faint. But it was there, and familiar.

"L-Lily?" He asked quietly, surely he wasn't crazy.

"Of course, silly" she said with a giggle, a little too light-heartedly for his liking.

He spun around on the spot desperately searching for a glimpse of her auburn hair, any sign of her. To his dismay he was surrounded by the same solitary landscape he saw every day. How dare she come to him after what she did? How dare she disturb his peace, all to mock him again? Her amusement caused resentment to surge through his body. Now was his chance to tell her how foolish she was, how much he hated the way she had looked through him with her deep emerald eyes.

How insane the sound of her stupid, girlish laughter made him feel.

How her voice was like melted caramel and made his stomach feel like it was full of chocolate frogs – No, he was upset with her and he would let her know. She was no different to them. His cheeks began to glow once again.

"Oh.. Hey" rumbled his feeble voice. Though he wasn't quite sure where it had come from.  
No! That wasn't right, he was supposed to be making her feel as small as they'd made him feel.  
"What do you want?!" he snapped suddenly. Great now he did sound crazy.

"I'm sorry fo-"

"Don't be sorry you're not disturbing me. I'm sorry for snapping." No he wasn't.. Why should he be sorry, SHE had disturbed HIM.  
Why had he said that?

"No. I mean, I'm sorry about how me and Petunia acted last time I saw you"

Of course! Of course that's what she meant. He should have let her finish, she had realised that she'd been foolish, just as he had predicted. Though now he looked like the fool. He was a fool.

"Oh right, erm, yeah sure."  
'Ugh you sound so pathetic' sneered his subconscious. 'Tell her! Tell her that it's still not okay. Tell her how unreasonable she was.' But he couldn't stand the thought of upsetting her again.

"Wait. Wh-where are you?" That was a start. He finally felt he was regaining a little control over his own words.

"I'm right behind you Severus."

When she said his name, the rest of the world felt so far away. He felt his cheeks flush brighter and his throat constrict. He liked the way his name sounded when she said it.

"That is your name right?"

"Erm..." his voice was croaking, and cracking. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I- Yeah that's my name"

Her silky laughter cut through the air.

"Are you sure? You don't sound very sure.." She was smiling, he could hear it. If he closed his eyes he could see it too. "Anyway, I just came to let you know we're sorry." She chimed cheerfully before he had chance to reply. At the recollection of the last time they met he felt a flush of anger once again.

"If _Tuney_ is so sorry then why isn't she here too, any why are you hiding that you're talking to me?" he spat.

"Okay. _I'm_ sorry. But I'm sure I'm sorry enough for both of us. Anyway, you're the one that's hiding." She justified. He could feel her tone dropping, her smile fading, he shouldn't care. No he didn't care.

"Well?.."

"Well what?" He asked, confused but still trying to sound stern. He'd just regained control of himself and he wasn't willing to lose it now.

"Apology accepted?" She hesitated.

'Right, of course.' He thought,

"Yeah, sure. I forgive _you_." He replied hastily, but making sure to add emphasis, he had no reason, no intention of forgiving her muggle sister. But Lily was special, like him.

"Good." Her reply sounded strained, as if it was fading.

He spun around as quickly as he could, catching his face on a branch as he did. But she was gone, or.. Had she ever been there? Or was this heat truly driving him crazy?


	3. Their Day

_**3\. Their Day**_

Weeks later, in a small thicket of trees with a sunlit river glittering through their trunks, two children sat facing each other, cross-legged on the ground. The shadows cast by the trees provided a pleasant basin of cool green shade. In the heat Severus had reluctantly removed his coat, he was still very self-conscious of his clothing but Lily never brought it up. She had come to find him earlier that day, leading him to believe that their conversation in the park was not a figment of his imagination. He wasn't difficult to find as he spent most of his time laying behind the bushes by the park listening to the other children play. They had spent some time there sat talking about a huge array of subjects, most of which focused on Lily, until they finally reached the reason she had sought him out. Magic. 

She had wanted to know everything there was to know about this wondrous secret world, and of course who else could she ask but Severus? He suggested that it was probably best to move away from the park and nosy children (namely Petunia who was doing nothing but pace the ground in front of the bush as if lost), so they had taken a stroll into the nearby public woods until Lily found a quiet picnic spot where they settled on the grass and talked for hours.

"…and the Ministry can punish you if you do magic outside school, you get letters." Severus announced.

He felt significant and intelligent while teaching her about the Wizarding wold, and it seemed that she felt that he was too.

"But I have done magic outside school!" Lily exclaimed, her eyes wide with anxiety.

"We're all right. We haven't got wands yet. They let you off when you're a kid and you can't help it. But once you're eleven," he nodded importantly. Lily's head followed his, her eyes widening as he spoke, "and they start training you, then you've got to go careful."

There was a little silence. Lily picked up a fallen twig and twirled it in the air. Severus' eyes followed her hands every movement. Then she dropped the twig, and leaned close. He felt his throat tighten, and his face began to flush. Her breath warmed his face as she spoke,

"It is real, isn't it? It's not a joke? Petunia says you're lying to me. Petunia says there isn't a Hogwarts. It is real, isn't it?"

"It's real for us," Severus smiled as his embarrassment rapidly transformed to frustration. Petunia was so envious of Lily and resentful of Severus that she would attempt to ruin her own sister's happiness. "Not for her." He added quickly, "But we'll get the letter, you and me."

"Really?" whispered Lily.

"Definitely," he whispered in response, brimful of confidence in his destiny. Their destiny.

"And will it really come by owl?" Lily whispered.

"Normally," said Snape softly and thoughtfully. "But you're Muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents."

"Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?"

Snape hesitated. His black eyes widened, eager in the greenish glow, and moved over furrowed brow and pursed lips… He had to tell her. He should tell her, and he would tell her, one day. She didn't need to know just yet. What kind of friend would he be to take the magic of the moment away from her? Surely that would make him no better than Petunia.

"No," he said, speaking louder now. "It doesn't make any difference."

"Good," said Lily, relaxing. It was clear that she had been worrying about this for a while, and Severus was glad that he had chosen not to tell her. At least for now. Although, he knew he would have to face the consequences later, as he was all too aware how divided the wizarding world could be.

"You've got loads of magic," said Snape. Trying to distract himself as much as Lily. "I saw that. All the time I was watching you…"

His voice trailed away; why had he said that? 'Could you have tried to sound any creepier?' his conscience spat sarcastically. He cautiously turned to face her, thankfully she was no longer listening, but had stretched out on the leafy ground and was looking up at the canopy of leaves overhead.

He watched her, as greedily now as he had in the playground.

"How are things at your house?" Lily asked.

A little crease appeared between his eyes and he lay back on the ground next to her and gazed up at the leaves falling gracefully from the trees surrounding them. Home was as unpleasant as always, but at least he felt safe here, safe with her.

"Fine,"

"They're not arguing anymore?" came a sceptical reply.

"Oh yes, they're arguing," said Snape. He picked up a fistful of leaves and began tearing them apart subconsciously. "But it won't be that long and I'll be gone."

"Doesn't your dad like magic?" as she asked she propped herself up on her elbow to face him, her eyebrows contorted with concern and pity… he hated pity.

"He doesn't like anything, much," said Snape closing his eyes to avoid her enchanting gaze.

"Severus?"

A little smile twisted his mouth when she said his name, he had never liked it much but somehow she made it sound pleasant almost. However, when he opened his eyes Lily herself looked anything but happy.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me about the dementors again."

His smile faded as quickly as it had materialized and his eyes darkened.

"What d'you want to know about them for?"

"If I use magic outside school – "

"They wouldn't give you to the dementors for that!" he chuckled, propping himself up to mirror her. "Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff. They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You're not going to end up in Azkaban, you're too – "

He turned red again, but Lily simply raised her eyebrows and smirked at him. Being cursed by his conscience once more, he began once again to shred leaves although he couldn't help but share her contagious smile. Then a rustling startled them both: Petunia, hiding behind a tree, had lost her footing.

"Tuney!" said Lily blushing slightly, with surprise and welcome in her voice, but Severus had jumped to his feet. His face reddening with anger, and embarrassment and his fists clenching at his side. He wondered how long she'd been there… How much she'd heard, or seen.

"Who's spying now?" he shouted striding towards her. "What d'you want?"

Petunia was breathless, alarmed at being caught. Her eyes showed her struggle for something hurtful to say.

"What is that you're wearing, anyway?" she said, pointing at his chest. "Your mum's blouse?"

Severus took a step back as if suffering from a physical blow. He'd been a fool to let his guard down, to allow himself to be so comfortable that he'd forgotten his woeful appearance. He wished hard that she would just leave them alone, just then there was a crack. A branch over Petunia's head fell. Lily screamed. The branch caught Petunia on the shoulder, and she staggered backward and burst into tears.

"Tuney!"

But Petunia already was running away. Severus smiled to himself, but this smile was even shorter lived than the last as Lily rounded on him. She too was on her feet now, her eyes burning into his, and flaring brighter than ever.

"Did you make that happen?" she asked in a frighteningly calm tone.

"No." He looked both defiant and scared.

"You did!" She was backing away from him. "You did! You hurt her!"

"No – no, I didn't!" He reached out towards her. He knew he had caused it. But he didn't mean to!

Lily wasn't convinced and after one last burning look, she ran after her sister. Severus remained in the clearing, miserable and confused. That wretched muggle always found a way to ruin everything! How could she be so selfish, so loathsome towards her own sister? It was as if she fed off her sister's misery, or Severus'. Either way, he was finding her to be an unacceptable excuse for a human being.

Severus stayed there for the remainder of the evening, attempting to calm himself down. By the time he returned home his dinner was cold, his mother was out and his father was sleeping in the living room. He had no appetite, and so walked straight through the kitchen and up to his room to sleep.


	4. Her Day

Severus awoke at 6am after a restless night. The sky was still dark and the house was silent. What little light there was glimmered through a tear in his greying curtains, providing dim light to the small room. Severus' was the most unkempt room in the house, this was not through neglect or lack of trying by his parents, but purely because of Severus' severe dislike of change. Whenever his parents had attempted to redecorate or even clean his room they were met with stern dispute from their unwavering son. As a result, many of the surfaces were covered in a thick layer of dust and a chest of drawers stood broken, but still functional in a far corner. On top of the drawers was an accumulation of old, damaged school books from his mother's days at Hogwarts. The only one not laden with dust was a large potions handbook, which had clearly been read regularly. Behind the books, patches of ancient wallpaper lay limp from the walls and the brown carpet was as tattered as the curtains, but this space was his, and his alone. Severus found the dim light, and dull colours comforting.

Sighing deeply, Severus rolled over and reached under his bed to retrieve a small box that had been set aside months ago. He opened it carefully, as though afraid, evaluating the contents slowly and carefully.

"Hmm.. Just once more." He whispered as he delicately tipped out a beautiful white flower onto the crumpled bedclothes. With as much care as he had opened the box, he ran his mothers' wand over each petal in turn, covering it in a silvery glow.

He and his mother had been working on preservation spells for a long time, although he had never told her why. He had been collecting the most striking flowers from the bush in the park, where he had first met Lily, and after several failed attempts at casting the charm and consequently destroying the flower, Severus was overjoyed when he finally got this one right. It was perfect. He was sure it was the most beautiful flower that he had found. Once the glow had subsided he delicately placed the flower back into the small box and wrapped it with great care, using some old brown paper he had found in his father's study. The final touch was a scrap of bright green ribbon, that his mother had thrown away, tied in a dainty bow on top.

By 9 o'clock he was leaving the house with an unusual spring in his step. He was wearing his nicest trousers, best fitting shirt and one of his dad's old blazers, although it was too large for him he felt it made him look much smarter. Today was Lily's birthday, and they were meeting in the park at 10 o'clock. It only took him 15 minutes to get from his house to the park – less than 10 at the speed he was moving today – so of course, he was early. He settled behind the bush cross legged facing the direction of Lily's home and waited. At quarter to he removed the small box from his blazer pocket placing it in the middle of the ground in front of his crossed legs, nervously shifting it from side to side until he was quite sure that it was _directly_ in the centre. Although an energetic swarm of butterflies had not left his stomach all morning, by 11 o'clock the excitement had begun to fade.

"Maybe she just lost track of time." He said to himself as he made his way toward her house.

He smiled, but with a cold sting of panic. Although he was still talking himself into it, he had decided that if he didn't see her on the way then he was going to call for her at home, her home, where her family were, her normal family. Her muggle family.

"Oh stop it." He growled at himself. "At least they won't know _your_ family." Lily had told him on many occasions how lovely her parents both were, and even if she was lying they could never be as bad as his own.

As he turned the corner into her road he could feel his heart beating in his throat and was finding it impossible to swallow.

"It will be fine." He whispered, over and over again. "Just fine."

For the first time in 15 minutes Severus looked up from his feet, but as he did he stopped suddenly. Although he had reached the house, he didn't feel any more at ease. Severus stood across the road, frozen. The house was decorated from roof to rosebush with large sparkling 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' banners and music was blaring through an open window to the right of the front door. Through the window he could see that the house was full of children laughing, dancing, singing and playing games. He swallowed hard, after walking all this way he couldn't justify turning back now. Just seeing her face would be worth it, he could just give her the present and leave. Turning the box over and over in his hands he walked slowly towards the door, but as he reached out to knock a sudden movement caught his eye. Petunia was standing in the window, and although she was laughing he could see the malice in her eyes as she pulled the curtains closed. Her gaze cut right through him and he felt every ounce of courage he had built up slowly drain away. Without blinking he placed the box on the doorstep in hopes that it would be found and made his way, slowly, back to the park.

For the remainder of the evening he sat on the swing set, swaying only because of the wind. It was a cold January afternoon, and the park was empty. He had no risk of anyone interrupting his thoughts. It had been dark for an hour when Severus thought it best that he head home, but as he rose from the swing the bush opposite him seemed to move. Although he was sure that he must have imagined it, and he had assured himself that he was most definitely not scared! Severus decided to stay put, just a little while longer. After another half an hour of staring almost unblinking at the bush Severus decided the creature must have gone, if it had even existed, and so began to make his way home. He made his way toward the bush, smiling faintly at how silly he had been to even hesitate. What could there possibly be that he would be afraid of? In Cokeworth? But nonetheless he moved cautiously around the bush. As he slowly peered around he saw a small, dark -figure laying in the grass. He moved slowly towards the unmoving form, until he was close enough to see definitively that this was a person. As he examined the form to check that the person wasn't injured the clouds cleared, the moonlight illuminated a familiar shade of red. It couldn't be…

"Lily?!" He gasped falling to his knees beside her. "Lily! Are you okay?" He sat her up in his arms, shaking her gently, pleading for her to move when she let out an immense yawn.

"Oh, hello Sev." She smiled calmly. "What're you doing here?"

"I wa-wait why are you here?" he stuttered in a stunned response, her cool serenity had caught him off guard.

"We had a meeting remember?" She smirked, fidgeting in his arms, but rather than sitting up she settled her head on Severus' lap, her face directly below his.

"Yes.." Severus smiled, "At 10 o'clock this morning, not in the evening." He teased.

"AH!" Lily exclaimed sarcastically, "So that's where I went wrong!.." She rolled her eyes and as she did they shimmered in the moonlight. "I am sorry Severus." She said, her tone dropping.

"It's-I-Wh-What happened?" Was all he could manage in response, much to the disgust of his conscience. He couldn't even maintain eye contact.

"Surprise party." She groaned, rolling over and burying her face in his knee.

Over the next hour or so Lily explained how she had been preparing to leave the house that morning, just as early as Severus had, when her aunt and uncle arrived and intercepted her in the driveway. Then once guests had started arriving they didn't stop. She proclaimed for all to hear how few of the guests she '_even liked anyway_', and how the music was far too loud, and her baby cousins would not leave her alone. By mid-afternoon, when the house had finally calmed down, she was expected to sit down for dinner with her family. She told him how she ate it so fast she had given herself stomach ache! Which of course was just, yet another inconvenience to the day. When she'd finally went to leave the house she had seen the box on the doorstep and went back inside to ask her parents who had been. She didn't need to, however as the smirk on Petunias face had given her away, after a rather heated discussion with her sister about whose abnormally small nose should be kept in their own business Lily had stormed from the house and straight to the park.

"-I don't know why I still thought you'd be here but I had to try," she yawned, "and you were here." A smile spread across her face the likes of which Severus had never seen before, though maybe that had something to do with her being upside down.

"You know I'm always here," He smiled amiably back at her, "well, not _here_… I do go home to sleep." He continued thoughtfully.

"Haha, yeah I got that Sev," she taunted, wrinkling her nose "anyway!" she sighed sitting up and turning to face him.

'Please don't leave yet.' He thought.

She pulled her hands into view and it was only now that Severus realised that she was clutching a small brown box with a small green bow. When he saw it was unopened he was flooded with fear that she was here to give it back, to tell him she didn't want gifts from the likes of him. The same feelings of dread that he had at her door rushed over him again, and he suddenly felt cold.

"You know you didn't have to Severus!" she smiled softly.

"No?.. I-Sorry." He stammered in response, panic struck and he reached out his hand expecting her to return his heartfelt gift.

"Oh no" she giggled, "It's mine now!" she held the box as high as she could above her head. "So, what is it?"

"You'll have to open it and see.." smirked Severus, feeling his confidence slowly returning.

Lily mockingly glared at him, rotated the box in her hands, then gently removed the bow without untying it and placed it in her pocket. She then proceeded to remove each individual strip of tape and gently remove the brown paper.

"A box!" she exclaimed, "I'm going to be unwrapping forever!"

"Only because you take forever!" Severus replied, "It's not going to bite you, you know..."

"Oooh a clue! So it doesn't have teeth…" she said gazing off thoughtfully into the dark that surrounded them.

As she opened the box Severus closed his eyes, he couldn't bare seeing the look on her face if she didn't like it. When he opened his eyes Lily's face was glistening, and it was at this moment that he realised that she didn't appear to have even grabbed a coat when leaving her house. He removed his dads' old blazer and reached over to place it around her shoulders, as he leaned back he grabbed hold of her cold hands.

"You don't like it." He mumbled, more to himself than Lily. As he leaned closer and tried to apologise Lily flung her arms around his neck.

"No! I love it!" She cried, "Oh Sev, it's beautiful! Where did you find this? It looks just like these!" she said leaning back and comparing the flower to those on the bush.

Severus mumbled inaudibly in response before reconsidering and repeating his statement louder "It's from here… I… I charmed it."

"You what? Sev! That's so cool… That's so sweet!" She beamed, "Oh Sev, I love it!" As she spoke she gently placed the flower in her hair over her right ear.  
"How does it look?" she asked with a pout.

"Beautiful." Breathed Severus blushing. Though he never looked away from her eyes.

It was really getting late now. They were both shivering, and agreed that they should each be heading home. Lily would not let Severus walk her back, however she did cave upon his insistence that she keep the blazer until tomorrow. They shared a brief hug and went their separate ways, Severus was dragging his feet with a dreamy smile on his face when he was knocked to one side by Lily flying at him, throwing her arms around his neck and tenderly kissing his cheek.

"Thank you." She whispered in his ear, before disappearing running back down the street yelling, "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Severus smiled the whole way home.

**_4.1 Half a Day Late_**

As Severus arrived home he heard the clock chime 9 o'clock. His eyes widened,

"Oh Merlin…" he breathed as he lowered the door handle. Before he even had a chance to step over the threshold, the silent house erupted into life.

"Eileen, your son is home!" Tobias yelled from his armchair by the fire.

"I see that Tobias!" she quipped back, "Where the well do you think you have been? You've been out _all_ day, no note, no mention of when you'd be back?"

"I was at the park…"  
"You could have been DEAD for all I-we, for all _we_ knew!" his mother spoke . over him, striding to stand between Severus and the door.

"The park?.. Again? What do you even do there all day?" his father called setting down his pipe and moving to stand at Eileen's side.

"I was-I jus-I" Severus stuttered shrinking towards the stairs.

"I don't want to hear it." His father said sternly, "Go to bed, you're grounded."

"How lon-"

"NOW" his mother shrieked.

Even though Severus' room seemed darker than ever that night, and he could hear his parents discussing his punishment downstairs, he still couldn't help smiling as he fell asleep with his cheek still warm from her touch.

'_She loved it._'


End file.
